Gone
by chocolate rules333
Summary: The baby was gone and no matter what Percy did he couldn't change a thing.  They weren't sure how they'd get by but things would get better, eventually.


**This is a very different and emotional story for me. I hope you can appreciate it. Thank you.**

Percy Jackson woke up from the blaring of his alarm clock. He groaned. The previous night had been horrible. When he'd finally fallen asleep around five a.m., his dreams had still managed to haunt him. He was so delirious that it took him a moment to realize that the space next to him in bed was empty. He sighed and hurried downstairs where he found his wife walking out the door.

"Annabeth, where are you going?" he asked.

"Work," she answered reasonably.

"You should take today off," Percy insisted. He understood her well enough to know that she needed a day to recuperate even more than he did.

"I'm fine, Percy," she hissed. It was a pitiful thing to say. The lie was so obvious he didn't even bother to call her out on it. She was wearing her normal work attire with her hair done up professionally but she still didn't look okay. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them that even the unusual amount of makeup she had caked on couldn't hide. He guessed she'd gotten less sleep than even he had.

"Percy, I have to go, I'll be late," she growled. Her grey eyes that he loved so much were dim and cloudy. They reminded him of the way the sky looks after it rains for so many days in a row that you are unsure if the sky will ever give you a break; so dreary that you don't know if you'll ever see the sun again.

"You're early," Percy pointed out. His wife sighed and turned her back to him. "Please, Annabeth, don't internalize this. It's not healthy." His voice was almost desperate.

She took a deep breath that shook just a little. "Percy, I've already said that I'm fine. I have to go to work now. Make sure to bring Chase to daycare and still get to work on time." As if on cue, they both heard a shrill wail from the upstairs bedroom. "Remember to change her diaper this time," Annabeth added as she reached for the door.

"Annabeth, I know you're upset, but you're scaring me a little," Percy said. He grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her into an embrace, but she pushed him away.

"I want to get there early today. I have a lot to catch up on," she mumbled. She walked towards her car and didn't look back at him. Percy wanted to stop her, but knew better. Annabeth was stubborn like that. He'd never be able to convince her. She was dealing with the grief and distress her way: by overworking herself.

Another wail and a loud scream of "DAAAA!" broke him out of his musings. He half smiled to himself, ascended the stairs, and entered Chaselyn Jackson's bedroom. When he walked in the wailing instantly stopped and the little girl's face was replaced with a big smile. Her sea green eyes sparkled.

"Da!" she exclaimed in delight.

"Mornin' Chase," Percy greeted his daughter. She could always cheer him up. He scooped the girl, who was about one and a half, up high and she giggled madly. Her curly dark hair was a mess and still had cereal from her makeshift dinner last night dried into it. "At least you slept well last night," he said, slightly exasperated. He brought his daughter to the changing table and began to get her ready for the day.

"Well, Chasie, it looks like you're not going to be an older sibling anymore," he told her. Of course, she didn't understand the gravity of what he had just said. The child kept smiling at him and tried to pull her father's hair. "Aww… Chase, no, that's not nice," he reprimanded, shaking his head. The toddler continued to giggle. "Chase, I'm worried about your mom. And, I, well, I'm devastated," Percy admitted. His body shook slightly and he sighed. "I just wonder which god or goddess we offended so much that they would let this happen…" He thought of Hera but he didn't voice the thought aloud, even to his small daughter. Even Hera wouldn't do this to them… would she?

The little girl looked at her father curiously. She rarely saw her parents sad. "Da?" she cooed. She reached her little hand out and patted him on the head. He smiled fondly at her.

"I love you, Chase," he whispered as kissed the little girl on the cheek.

"_Percy!" Annabeth's shrill cry interrupted the episode of Shark Week Percy had been watching._

"_Annabeth?" he asked, slightly concerned. He expected a monster or some deity come to bother him. Instead he was greeted by his deathly pale wife who was half sobbing._

"_Percy, I'm… bleeding," she whispered. She looked terrified. His eyes widened._

"_What does that mean? Is that normal?" he asked._

"_I… I don't know," she lied, "but we have to go to the hospital right now."_

_Percy nodded. He loaded Chase into their car and they zoomed to the hospital._

_After what seemed like hours of nurses and doctors examining Annabeth, while she kept an emotionless poker face, an old doctor finally walked in._

"_Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," he began. His face held sympathy, which wasn't a good sign. "I'm sorry, but you have suffered a miscarriage." Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand as tears rolled down her cheeks. Chase began to cry because no one was paying attention to her. She tugged on her father's pant leg. The doctor looked down at her sadly. It was all too much._

"_Percy!" someone called from afar._

"Percy!" He was forced back into reality when someone shook him awake. Percy Jackson looked up to see the concerned eyes of his mother. She never had visited him at work before but, after what happened yesterday, he supposed she knew he needed her.

"Hi, Mom, what are you…?" But Sally cut her son off before he could finish. She pulled him into a tight and protective hug. Percy hadn't realized how much he needed this, and was surprised and slightly embarrassed when tears started forming in his eyes. He was very aware of his coworkers looking at him and his mother with curious, sympathetic, or even amused expressions. He decided that he simply couldn't be around them anymore and led his mother outside.

"Why are you here, Percy?" Sally Blofis asked softly. Percy frowned and shrugged.

"Annabeth wanted me to go to work," he replied.

"Is that what she said she wanted or what she _really_ wanted?"

Percy sighed. "I'm going home,"

Sally hugged him again. "Good. Spend time with your family. You're very lucky to have them."

He nodded. "Thanks, Mom."

She kissed him on the cheek before waving goodbye and walking to her car. Percy stumbled to his own car and decided that he would go to daycare and grab his daughter and then force Annabeth to take a break from work even if he had to drag her out kicking and screaming.

To his surprise, when he arrived at Chase's daycare, they told him that the girl's mother had already picked her up. He wondered why Annabeth hadn't bothered to call or at least Iris message him first, and quickly hurried back to his house.

When he arrived home, he found that nothing had changed since he left, except for the fact that Annabeth's car was out front. All the lights were off.

"Annabeth!" he called. There was no response. He searched all the rooms until he found his wife in their bedroom, sitting in a ball on the floor holding and rocking Chase, sobbing. The small dark haired girl was watching her mother with confused eyes.

"Annabeth…" Percy whispered. She looked up at him with those dimmed gray eyes, surprised that he was there.

"P—Percy," she mumbled, trying to calm herself down. She released their daughter who scampered away to play with her stuffed animals. "I—I…" Then Annabeth gave in and broke down crying again. Percy knelt down and held her in his arms. This time, she did not protest. They sat there for a few minutes while Annabeth just cried and Percy rubbed her back, rocking her back and forth gently.

Percy hated to see Annabeth cry. He would go to the end of the world and back, beat the entire Titan army singlehandedly, and take on any ridiculous quest that anyone could come up with if it would just make her feel better. But no matter what he did it wouldn't really heal the pain. And that made him feel so completely helpless that he couldn't even put it into words. All he could do was hold his wife and hope that his touch and presence at least eased the pain a little.

"I—I'm sorry," Annabeth said quietly, after she had calmed down somewhat.

"Annabeth, there's nothing…" But she didn't let him finish.

"I'm sorry for being so mean this morning."

"Don't be ridiculous, I know you didn't…" he began again, but Annabeth wasn't listening.

"And I'm sorry for losing the baby," she whispered before breaking down again and sobbing into his chest.

"Annabeth… please don't blame yourself," Percy begged.

"My fault," she mumbled between sobs.

"You know what the doctor said. These things happen. It happens to a lot of people. It will all be okay," he comforted. He wasn't sure if his words were true but he really hoped that they were what Annabeth needed to hear.

Annabeth hiccupped. "Percy, normal people say that these things happen. Bad things don't just happen to demigods. Who knows what I did but I offended some deity and they—they…" She choked on her words and didn't finish.

Percy sighed. "I know what you're thinking. But it's no one's fault. For once, we just have to pretend to be normal."

"I just want my baby," Annabeth muttered. She looked up at him, and he could see that those were desperate words from her very soul.

"Me too," he admitted.

Annabeth sighed, and wiped her tear-stained eyes. "It sucks."

"Yeah. But sometimes bad things happen. I'm still lucky to have you and Chase. I'll always love you guys. You don't have to go through this alone, okay? You have me."

Annabeth looked up at him and for the first time in nearly two days he saw a shadow of a smile on her face. "You're such a sap, Seaweed Brain."

Percy rolled his eyes and kissed her on the forehead. Little Chase toddled over to them and tugged on her father's shirt.

"Da!" she called. Percy smiled at the girl and Annabeth reached out her hand and pulled her daughter into her lap. The family sat there together for a long time. They would have a rough time getting over their loss, but things would get better eventually, because they had each other.

What more did they need?

**Okay, this story is over. Thanks for bearing with me. This was inspired by what my aunt and uncle, who I am very close to, recently went through. Somehow, I don't know why, writing this comforted me. I hope you didn't hate this.**


End file.
